Michael Carrick has again dismissed criticism that Manchester United lack passion as 'lazy' following their nightmare start to the 2026/27 season. The Red Devils boss was irritated after his side's opening-day defeat to newly-promoted Hull City, and he has now doubled down on his stance ahead of this weekend's clash with Ipswich Town.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Carrick said: "It's one game. I think there's enough leadership in our dressing room that we'll have it throughout the season." He added: "Just because we lose a game doesn't just mean leadership, or I got passion thrown at me after the game, it's not just that. You lose two set-plays like we did, changes the game."
Carrick defends his squad
Carrick criticised a reporter in the aftermath of the Hull defeat, calling comments about a potential lack of passion 'ridiculous'. He continued in that vein, arguing that losing a game does not mean everything is wrong.
"Teams lose games, so there's different reasons. I don't have to give you the total reason, because we know what we're trying to improve on," he said. "But I'm just saying to you, I think it's so easy and lazy to just, team loses a game, everything's wrong. This is wrong, this is wrong, not trying enough, not enough passion. It's just like the obvious answer."
Players told to improve
While Carrick is refusing to panic after United's difficult start, he has told his players they need to improve if they want to secure victory against Ipswich. He pointed out that the same performance levels have previously produced wins.
"We've probably played like that and won games, and everyone goes, 'What a great team, what a great coach, what a great load of players,' when we find a way to win 1-0," he said. "So, from my perspective, when you're analysing it, it's not the feeling and just that because of the feeling. We've got to dig deeper than that and understand the details of it."
He added: "And we do, don't get carried away when we win certain games because we know it's not been perfect. And sometimes when you lose games, we know what we need to improve on. But there's certainly things that we can be a little bit clearer on, and calmer on in certain moments, to understand that, and keep the belief that things that we'll do well, which we will do, will win us games."
New signings and injury news
United have spent heavily in the transfer market this summer, adding midfielders Andrey Santos, Youri Tielemans and Carlos Baleba to Carrick's squad. Baleba is unavailable for this weekend's game as he continues his recovery from an ankle injury he picked up with former club Brighton.
